In his absence, possibly the most even field ever assembled for the Taumarunui Cup will face the starter.
Difficult to come up with a definitive choice, but The Jungle Boy puts forward a few positives.
One is that he's won on the course - always a major consideration at Te Rapa.
Another is his handy ability on winter tracks. Te Rapa can surprise you in firming up very quickly, but the track was yesterday a heavy (10) and with showers predicted through today and tomorrow the chance of significant improvement is moderate at best.
Which will suit The Jungle Boy. His run for third in the Whangarei Cup last start was very good considering the track was only just dead, a surface much too firm for The Jungle Boy's liking.
At his previous start he finished a fine second to Indikator on heavy ground in the Kiwifruit Cup at Tauranga.
That is good enough form for consideration here.
Montjee's form has been mixed on paper, but it may pay to ignore that. His third in the Kiwifruit Cup, only a neck behind The Jungle Boy, was a good run and he was completely lost at the back of the field on a shocking track at Te Awamutu last start.
Expect to see a better run this time.
Dubhdara was narrowly beaten in this race last year and on that alone he rates a definite wining chance.
His heavy track record is impressive - four wins and seven placings from 18 starts.
The extreme outside barrier draw is unimpressive, but that will be the job of Mark Du Plessis, back briefly until his Hong Kong contract kicks off again.
On the next line of choice, you can probably have most of the rest of the field, the line-up is so even.
Halls is one of the best of them, but the 59kg topweight looks ugly. He is tough, though, and the earth won't stop revolving if he wins.
Matthew Gillies will not be riding at Matamata today or Oamaru on Sunday after taking a tumble at Wanganui yesterday.
